When we left off, Ken had just competed 13 weeks of training with the 602nd Camouflage Battalion at Camp Butner, N.C. After a week of furlough, the 500-man unit was shipped to England, in anticipation of the long-awaited Allied invasion of Europe. The men of Ken's battalion were charged with teaching other soldiers how to hide and conceal guns, supplies, positions, etc. The idea was, that since most of the men of the 602nd were from the northern states, they must be deer hunters - and, therefore, experienced in camouflage. To this Ken smiles, "That turned out to be a dream."
One thing that is worth keeping in mind throughout this series is how the army breaks down and designates its troop formations: A platoon consists of 16 to 44 soldiers. A Company consists of three to five Platoons (62 to 190 soldiers), a Battalion consists of four to six Companies (300 to 1,000 soldiers), a Brigade consists of two to five Battalions, and a Division consists of three Brigades and could involve up to 15,000 troops!
Anyway, the intended date of the Allied Invasion approached, but foul weather postponed action. Then, on June 6, 1944, the weather broke just enough to allow plans to commence. On D-Day, two companies from Ken's Camouflage Battalion set out for Normandy. Although Ken was not directly involved in the D-Day landings, his friends were: "None of (the two companies) completed their mission because it was just mayhem."
Ken and the remainder of his Camouflage Battalion were shipped out aboard LSD landing ships, the same ships that were ferrying wounded soldiers back from the lines. The weather on D-Day had been stormy, making it "hell to land ships." When Ken arrived, it was "nice summer weather - just like what you'd expect (in Wisconsin)." Two weeks after the invasion, Ken arrived on Omaha Beach. At that time, the beach was still a mess with material, "it took some time to get all that equipment and supplies inland."
As Ken's Battalion moved inland, the men who had been involved in the actual invasion found their way to the rest of the group. "How they did it I don't know - they just kept asking around until they found their way back." Only 7 miles inland, Ken and his friends found themselves surrounded by Roman-era hedgerows and natural cattle-proof fences. The land was cross-stitched with impenetrable barriers, and often the troops would find themselves separated from enemy placements only by these fence lines. In addition, the fields surrounding Omaha Beach were flooded. Hitler used the natural feature of the low-lying French terrain to his advantage, and opened the flood gates, "Making it that much more difficult."
Ken described the mayhem that he encountered: "The Germans still had a pretty good air force at that time and they kept holding us up. [They'd] come in with planes screaming, spitting fire all over the place, and dropping bombs where they knew there were troops. You had to dig in, but there were still a lot of people that got caught. The next day in daylight it was kind of a different war; we'd kind of switch around. [The engineers] were putting blades on the front of tanks to move the brush. ... We never had to think about a mine field - by then they were all marked and established."
At night, Ken got sent out on patrols. The idea was, that a man from the Camouflage Battalion would help "protect" the soldiers by helping conceal them. This notion "turned out to be a farce." Once out in the field, "everyone was an infantryman." Ken's entire Battalion was broke down so that there was a Platoon of camouflage experts per Division of troops. In other words, 30 men trying to help 15,000 soldiers; how much work could they get accomplished? Often, Ken found himself put on the spot: When the troops finally found someone from the Camouflage Battalion that was willing to work with them, that man would be sent on these patrols as the lead. The others would simply say, "OK - show us what to do." Well, in combat that was a pretty difficult thing to accomplish!
As the Allies pushed inland, Ken and his unit moved toward the strategic point of Saint-Lo. Along the way they encountered heavy fighting, and every major move was accompanied with a huge armada of airplanes. Ken described the sky being "covered with planes," which gave the false impression of a quick victory. "It wasn't long until reality sunk in." Bitter fighting erupted right through the town of Saint-Lo, which was virtually destroyed by the time the Allies moved on. Ken describes the entire town being a "pile of debris when we left." After Saint-Lo, it was a straight push toward Paris.
As soldiers like Ken marched toward the liberation of Paris, they were firsthand witnesses to an amazing spectacle. As Ken describes: When there was a big move on, it was fun to watch fighter planes do combat overhead - especially in the Battle of the Bulge. Of course, the weather had to be favorable, and in nice sunny weather the troops would sit and watch the planes dog-fighting overhead - it was "good entertainment." Of course, the reality of the spectacle soon sunk in. Ken saw a lot of planes get shot down, "There were a lot of those guys who didn't make it."
As the troops pushed toward Paris, they would be the first to witness Nazi brutality in its worst form - tune in next week.
- Dan Wegmueller of Monroe writes a weekly column for Friday editions of the Times. He can be reached at dwegs@tds.net.
One thing that is worth keeping in mind throughout this series is how the army breaks down and designates its troop formations: A platoon consists of 16 to 44 soldiers. A Company consists of three to five Platoons (62 to 190 soldiers), a Battalion consists of four to six Companies (300 to 1,000 soldiers), a Brigade consists of two to five Battalions, and a Division consists of three Brigades and could involve up to 15,000 troops!
Anyway, the intended date of the Allied Invasion approached, but foul weather postponed action. Then, on June 6, 1944, the weather broke just enough to allow plans to commence. On D-Day, two companies from Ken's Camouflage Battalion set out for Normandy. Although Ken was not directly involved in the D-Day landings, his friends were: "None of (the two companies) completed their mission because it was just mayhem."
Ken and the remainder of his Camouflage Battalion were shipped out aboard LSD landing ships, the same ships that were ferrying wounded soldiers back from the lines. The weather on D-Day had been stormy, making it "hell to land ships." When Ken arrived, it was "nice summer weather - just like what you'd expect (in Wisconsin)." Two weeks after the invasion, Ken arrived on Omaha Beach. At that time, the beach was still a mess with material, "it took some time to get all that equipment and supplies inland."
As Ken's Battalion moved inland, the men who had been involved in the actual invasion found their way to the rest of the group. "How they did it I don't know - they just kept asking around until they found their way back." Only 7 miles inland, Ken and his friends found themselves surrounded by Roman-era hedgerows and natural cattle-proof fences. The land was cross-stitched with impenetrable barriers, and often the troops would find themselves separated from enemy placements only by these fence lines. In addition, the fields surrounding Omaha Beach were flooded. Hitler used the natural feature of the low-lying French terrain to his advantage, and opened the flood gates, "Making it that much more difficult."
Ken described the mayhem that he encountered: "The Germans still had a pretty good air force at that time and they kept holding us up. [They'd] come in with planes screaming, spitting fire all over the place, and dropping bombs where they knew there were troops. You had to dig in, but there were still a lot of people that got caught. The next day in daylight it was kind of a different war; we'd kind of switch around. [The engineers] were putting blades on the front of tanks to move the brush. ... We never had to think about a mine field - by then they were all marked and established."
At night, Ken got sent out on patrols. The idea was, that a man from the Camouflage Battalion would help "protect" the soldiers by helping conceal them. This notion "turned out to be a farce." Once out in the field, "everyone was an infantryman." Ken's entire Battalion was broke down so that there was a Platoon of camouflage experts per Division of troops. In other words, 30 men trying to help 15,000 soldiers; how much work could they get accomplished? Often, Ken found himself put on the spot: When the troops finally found someone from the Camouflage Battalion that was willing to work with them, that man would be sent on these patrols as the lead. The others would simply say, "OK - show us what to do." Well, in combat that was a pretty difficult thing to accomplish!
As the Allies pushed inland, Ken and his unit moved toward the strategic point of Saint-Lo. Along the way they encountered heavy fighting, and every major move was accompanied with a huge armada of airplanes. Ken described the sky being "covered with planes," which gave the false impression of a quick victory. "It wasn't long until reality sunk in." Bitter fighting erupted right through the town of Saint-Lo, which was virtually destroyed by the time the Allies moved on. Ken describes the entire town being a "pile of debris when we left." After Saint-Lo, it was a straight push toward Paris.
As soldiers like Ken marched toward the liberation of Paris, they were firsthand witnesses to an amazing spectacle. As Ken describes: When there was a big move on, it was fun to watch fighter planes do combat overhead - especially in the Battle of the Bulge. Of course, the weather had to be favorable, and in nice sunny weather the troops would sit and watch the planes dog-fighting overhead - it was "good entertainment." Of course, the reality of the spectacle soon sunk in. Ken saw a lot of planes get shot down, "There were a lot of those guys who didn't make it."
As the troops pushed toward Paris, they would be the first to witness Nazi brutality in its worst form - tune in next week.
- Dan Wegmueller of Monroe writes a weekly column for Friday editions of the Times. He can be reached at dwegs@tds.net.
